The Inventory of Conflict and
Environment (ICE) intends to provide acommon basis and
method for looking at issues of conflict and environment. The 200 ICE case
studies are based on 16 categories of information, many of which
contain coded attributes. These attributes can be searched with the ICE Search
Engine. Further manipulations are also available through the ICE
Expert System. You can also get involved in Mandala
events find out how to
participate (through distance learning and internships).

Several Islamic rebel groups on the island of
Mindanao in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines
have been engaging in armed conflict with government forces
over the past three decades, with two major factions
demanding independence. Tensions over the exploitation of
the island’s resources and the economic disparity between
Muslims and Christians go back centuries and existed under
both the Spanish and American periods of colonization, but
the armed separatist movement began at the beginning of the
1970s. The conflict has strong roots in the question of
control over natural resources, especially land but also
mining, timber, oil, gas, and fishing resources. The
heightening of friction between Muslims and the government
was accelerated by a resettlement program that increased the
ratio of Christians to Muslims on Mindanao, and by the fact
that Muslim areas remain comparatively underdeveloped
(attributed by the rebel groups as the government’s failure
to integrate their ethno-religious group). In the two years
since the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks in
New York, two of the separatist factions have been linked to
regional terrorist organizations.

This case study will examine the environmental impact of
Hadrian’s Wall and the Wall as a cultural divider between
Scotland and England. Hadrian’s Wall was built by the Romans
around 120 A.D. and was meant to protect Roman Britannia
(England) from Northern tribes located in modern day
Scotland. The building of the Wall, the settlements that
sprung up around the Roman fortifications, and tourism to
the site have all changed the natural environment through
deforestation, mining, biological seclusion, and roads. Not
only has the Wall affected the natural environment, its
creation established a split between two peoples on the
English Isle: a division that created two distinct cultures
and lands-- Scotland and England.

This site was conceived of by Dr. James R. Lee
American University, The School of International Service
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Washington, DC 20016-8071